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Understanding Eligibilities and Qualifications as Part of the Application Process

For Other than Commissary Career Program (CCP) Job Announcements

Eligibilities. As part of the application process, you identify how you want HR to consider you for the 

position, referred to as selecting your eligibility/eligibilities. Not selecting at least one eligibility or 

selecting a single eligibility that does not apply to you removes you from further consideration.

Eligibilities vary based on who can apply for the position. Most eligibilities provide detailed information 

to help you understand them. Before selecting an eligibility, carefully read the stated requirements, 

determine whether you meet all the requirements and be sure to include all required documents with 

your application to support your consideration for the selected eligibility. 

These two eligibilities, typically seen on merit promotion (MP) announcements, provide little 

information about what the terms mean or how to apply them to your situation. 

• Reassignment, Change to Lower Grade or Re-promotion (Noncompetitive)

• Promotion (Competitive)

The information below provides a definition followed by some examples of the most common 

scenarios associated with these two eligibilities. This information intends only to provide further 

clarification of the definition’s practical meaning. If after reading this information you are uncertain 

which applies to you, you may contact DLA HR for further assistance or select all the eligibilities you 

think might apply to you and your situation. 

DeCA positions are in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan or the Federal Wage System (FWS) pay 

plan. The FWS includes Wage Grade (WG), Wage Leader (WL), and Wage Supervisor (WS). Determining 

whether your selection for a position would result in a reassignment, change to lower grade or 

promotion can be confusing. When moving from a FWS position to a GS position or vice versa, the 

determination oftentimes involves setting pay, which requires a level of knowledge retained by HR 

professionals, and not easily conveyed here. 

Noncompetitive Choices

Reassignment—the change of an employee from one position to another without promotion or change 

to lower grade. Reassignment includes movement to (1) a position in a new occupational series or to 

another position in the same occupational series, and (2) a different position at the same grade but with 

a change in salary that is the result of different local prevailing wage rates or a different locality 

payment.

Examples

1) Your occupational series changes and your pay plan and grade level remain the same. 

Examples: GS-0301-07 to GS-0341-07; WS-6907-04 to WS-6914-04 

2) Your pay plan, occupational series, and grade remain the same. Example: GS-0501-12 to 

GS-0501-12; WG-6914-04 to WG-6914-04

3) Your pay plan, occupational series, and grade remain the same and your pay changes because 

your geographic location is different. Examples: GS-0201-14 in Alaska with a total annual salary 

of $133,480 moves to GS-0201-14 in Washington, D.C. with a total annual salary of $133,689; 

WL-6914-04 in Alaska with an hourly rate of $23.12 moves to WL-6914-04 in Utah with an 

hourly salary of $17.52. 

Change to Lower Grade—personnel action that moves an employee, while serving continuously in the 

same agency, to a position (1) at a lower grade when both the old and new positions are under the 

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General Schedule or under the same type graded wage schedule, or (2) with a lower rate of basic pay 

when both the old and the new positions are under the same type ungraded wage schedule or in a 

different pay-method category.

Examples

1) Your pay plan stays the same and your grade level decreases. Examples: GS-13 to GS-11; WG-05 

to WG-04. 

2) Your wage pay plan changes and your hourly rate decreases. Example: WL-06 with hourly rate 

of $24.56 to WG-05 with hourly rate of $23.99. 

Re-promotion—placement into a grade previously held on a nontemporary (i.e., permanent) basis in the 

competitive service.

Example

Several years ago, you occupied a permanent position in the competitive service at the GS-10 level. 

Your current position is a GS-07. If you apply and are selected for a GS-10 position, you can be repromoted to the GS-10 position based on having permanently held that grade previously. 

Competitive Choice

Promotion1

—a personnel action that changes an employee to a position (1) at a higher grade level 

within the same job classification system and pay schedule (aka pay plan) or (2) with a higher rate of 

basic pay in a different job classification system and pay schedule. 

Examples

1) Your pay plan stays the same and your grade level increases. Example: GS-06 to GS-07 or GS-07 

to GS-09. 

2) Your pay plan changes from FWS to GS and your annual rate of pay increases by any amount

(even just $.01). 

a. You are a WL with an hourly rate of $27.07 applying for a GS-08 position. The job 

announcement shows a salary range of $45,810 to $59,557. 

b. Calculate your annual salary by multiplying your hourly rate by 2087. (27.07 x 

2087=56495.09). Your annual salary rounds to $56,495.

c. Compare the result of 2b with the annual salary range appearing on the job 

announcement. If your annualized salary falls within that range, your selection for the 

position may be a promotion.

2

 

Qualifications. 

For GS positions and as part of the application process, you identify how you meet the minimum 

qualification requirements for the position. Based on grade level, there may be as many as three ways 

to meet the minimum qualifications required by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). 

1) Possess the required experience at the appropriate grade level (next lowest grade),

2) Possess the educational equivalent of the required experience, or

 1 For these purposes, promotion refers to movement with an increase in pay rather than an increase in hierarchical 

standing.

2 This one requires research, calculations, and comparisons. To find the correct comparative salary chart for your 

situation, access https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2018/general-schedule/. 

You can then compare the annualized wage salary to the GS salary table for the specific location and grade level. 
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3) Possess a combination of experience and education that equals 100% of the qualification 

requirement.

Read the qualifications section carefully as not all grade levels permit substituting education for the 

required experience. If the position does not permit substituting education for experience then you may 

not meet qualifications based having education or on combining experience and education. 

If the announcement covers multiple grade levels, there are more than two responses from which to 

choose, and you can only select one response. When choosing your response, select the highest level of 

qualification you possess and be sure that the information in your resume supports that response. 

Example: You are a GS-05 applying for promotion to GS-07. Promotion to GS-07 requires that you have 

one year of creditable specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade, which provided you 

with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and 

is directly in or related to the position. The announcement will contain examples of creditable 

experience. As the vacancy announcement covers grade levels GS-05, GS-07 and GS-09, there are 

response options for each of those grade levels. You have been in your current GS-05 position for 13 

months, not held a position higher than GS-05, and have no formal education above high school. Do you 

choose the response stating that you have one year of specialized experience at the GS-05 level, the 

response stating that you have one year of specialized experience at the GS-07 level, or something else? 

In this instance, you should select the response stating that you have one year of specialized experience 

at the GS-05 level. 

FWS positions use a job element method rather than the GS method described above. Your responses 

to the job element statements/questions are matched against what the work calls for to determine if 

you have the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.